base64

Synopsis

base64subcommand[options]

Description

The base64 command encodes binary strings into text representations using the base64 encoding
format. Base64 encoding is often used in LDIF files to represent non-ASCII character
strings. It is also frequently used to encode certificate contents or the output
of message digests such as MD5 or SHA.

Subcommands

The following subcommands are used with the base64 command.

decode

Decodes base64-encoded information into raw data. Suboptions are as follows:

-d, --encodedDataencoded-data. Base64-encoded data to be decoded to raw data.

-f, --encodedDataFilefilename. Path to the file that contains the base64-encoded data to be decoded.

-o, --toRawFilefilename. Path to the file to which the raw data should be written.

encode

Encodes raw data to base64. Suboptions are as follows:

-d, --rawDataraw-data. Raw data to be base64–encoded.

-f, --rawDataFilefilename. Path to the file that contains the raw data to be base64–encoded.

-o, --toEncodedFilefilename. Path to the file to which the base64-encoded data should be written.

Global Options

-?, -H, --help

Display usage information.

-V, --version

Display directory server version information.

Examples

The following examples show how to use the directory server commands.

Example 2-8 Base64 Encoding a String

The following command base64-encodes the string opends.

$ base64 encode -d opends
b3BlbmRz

Example 2-9 Base64 Encoding the Contents of a File

The following command base64-encodes the file (-f) and writes to an output file
(-o).

$ base64 encode -f myrawdata -o myencodeddata

Example 2-10 Decoding a Base64–Encoded String

The following command decodes a base64–encoded string.

$ base64 decode -d b3BlbmRz
opends

Example 2-11 Decoding the Contents of a Base64–Encoded File

The following command decodes the file base64–encoded file (-f) and writes to
an output file (-o).

$ base64 encode -f myencodeddata -o myoutput

Example 2-12 Base64–Encoding and Decoding on Linux Systems

The following command encodes and decodes on Linux from the command-line. After you
enter the clear-text string, press Control-D to signal the end of input on
the command line.